The Annual Reading Challenge is neither a race, contest, nor an "exclusive club", anyone can join! This is just a fun activity that some of us have enjoyed doing in the past. Many of us have found reading challenges to be an entertaining way to set goals for ourselves, get ideas for books, and see what others are reading.

This thread is for you to keep a running tally for your chosen challenge. Please state your goals at the top of your post (in the title line if you can), and then start your list in the body of your post. As you read books, edit your post to update your list of books read, or other challenge status.

Please Remember: No discussion posts in this thread. Please use the other thread for that. Non-List posts will be deleted or moved to the other thread.

Post #2 of this thread is dedicated to a Table of Contents for all participants in this thread. Names will be added, to this TOC, in alphabetical order with a link to that individual’s post number from this thread.

Interesting world, but the style was rather off-putting, and this is clearly a third of a big book rather than the first book of a trilogy. I also guessed the twist at the end long before the last line.

January 17th: Passing by Nella Larsen - £0.88 - 3/5 - 106pp

It was OK. The flashback start seemed unnecessary. The ending was poor. It was an interesting insight into some aspects of Black American life in the Early 20th Century.

"The Quantum Magician" by Derek Künsken is the first part of a serial. If I'd realised I would have left it for when I had all parts available to read together, but the silly Magazine format that they use on the Kindle meant I didn't notice until I'd finished this part. An enjoyable far-future story.

Novella:
"Blurred Lives" by Adam-Troy Castro is an odd story of mind control.
Spoiler:
I enjoyed it.

Novelettes:
"The Journeyman: Through Madness Gap" by Michael F. Flynn is an amusing continuation of the story of Teodorq and Sammi and their quest on behalf of some failing technology. I look forward to the next installment, whenever it appears.
"Endless City" by David Gerrold. Hard bitten detective in cyberspace and realspace. OK, but not really my kind of thing.

Short stories:
"Hobson's Choices" by Mary A. Turzillo is a very good flawed utopia story.
"Ten and Ten" by Alan Dean Foster is a story of communication. Pretty good.
"One to Watch" by Andrew Barton is strange. I don't really understand the motivation of the protagonist.
"Home on the Free Range" by Holly Schofield considers the problems of farming with no experience of the yearly cycle. Good.
"When the Aliens Stop to Bottle" by Ian Watson is a story of alien conquest. Hmmm.
"Two Point Three Children" by Marissa Lingen is a very good story about AI.
"Air Gap" by Eric Cline. A completely different very good story about AI.
"The Dissonant Note" by Jeremiah Tolbert is a very good story about the consequences of uploadable consciousness.

The Probability Zero story "Margin of Error" was a fun look at a political campaign.

Two Novellas:
"In the Lost City of Leng" by Rudy Rucker & Paul Di Filippo. A Lovecraftian story and not really to my taste.
"The Rescue of the Renegat" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. One of her Fleet stories. I enjoyed it.
Four Novellas:
"Sea of Dreams" by Cixin Liu, trans. John Chu. Artistic temperament write large. Quite good.
"Solicited Discordance" by Matthew Hughes. P.I. on alien world. OK.
"Assassin in the Clouds" by Robert R. Chase. Bodyguard work. OK.
"Barren Isle" by Allen M. Steele. A Coyote story. Good.
Four Short Stories:
"Consciousness: 4107's Story" and "The Final Commandment: Trey's Story" by James Gunn. Back stories of two characters in his Transcendental trilogy. OK, but only just. Clearly setups for the novels.
"The Equalizers" by Ian Creasey. An interesting look at anti-discrimination technology and social interactions. Good.
"Mother Tongues" by S. Qiouyi Lu. Good story about the importance of language.

February 28th: Penhallow by Georgette Heyer - £1.20 - 3/5 - 305pp

One of her 'modern' books, but not even a mysteru, more a consequences.

The Spires - a good story about wanting to prove you're right. Lab B-15 about the problems of emulation. The Streaming Man - an excellent story about accidental internet success. Razzibot - an excellent story about accidental internet success. The Selves We Leave Behind - a sad story about first contact. Beek - a very good story about insights gained from the a natural world. An Incident on Ishtar, and excellent story about the lengths people will go for what's important to them. The Tail Gunner's Lament - a good WWII UFO story. Sicko - how to save the world slowly. Car Talk - AI and cars. What's not to like? Frog Happy - odd story about alien invasion. Sun Splashed Fields and Far Blue Mountains - a USA healthcare story. Physics Tomorrow: A story of SETI success. Big Thompson: A story of SETI success. The Camel's Tail - an excellent story of space commerce.

Another splendid YA fantasy. One star off for the main characters unreasonable preoccupation with his book.

April 20th: A Margin in Time by Laura Hayden - Free - 2/5 - 183pp

I should remember that Romances don't care about anything except the romance. It would have been much better without the extra character who did nothing for the time-travelling plot except make it completely inconsistent.

January (23/£40.36): Grantville Gazette #75, F&SF January/February 2018, Neogenesis, Cobra Traitor, The Cackle of Cthulu, Kill Before Dying, Man-Kzin Wars III, The Deluge Drivers, Needle, Through the Eye of a Needle, Icerigger, Mission to Moulokin, The Fifth Season, Passing, 8xInspector Montalbano Mysteries (The Shape of Water, The Terracotta Dog, The Snack Thief, The Voice of the Violin, Excursion to Tindari, The Scent of the Night, Rounding the Mark, The Patience of the Spider), The English and their History

February (14/£23.59): Pawn of Prophecy, Child of Earth, Midnight Snack and Other Fairy Tales, Interim Errantry2: On Ordeal, Analog SFF March/April 2018, Asimov's SF March/April 2018, The Best SF&F of the Year, Enchanted Glass, Deep Secret, A Tale of Time City, The Chalk Pit, The Russia House, All Creatures Great and Small, Castle of Wizardry

March (37/£48.53): Grantville Gazette #76, F&SF March/April 2018, Dragon Song, To Love and be Wise, A Wrinkle in Time, A Call to Vengence, Deadly Election, The seven Narnia books, The Name of the Rose, Making History, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, A Talent for Murder, Pulse, 10xInspector Morse, 8xInspector Montalbano

November (15/£31.66) Grantville Gazette #80, F&SF November/December 2018, The Hanging Tree, The Fifth Knight, The Blood of the Fifth Knight, The Lord of Ireland, The Gates of Tagmeth, Inspector Rebus (2-9)

Maris's work with the local underworld on the huge space station was anything but honest, but life was much more pleasant than it had been before the gang's leader had picked her up from the slums. Then her boss grabbed a visitor to the station who was asking too many questions, only to find out that she was a very important diplomat. Worse, his prisoner had apparently committed suicide by jumping through an airlock into hard vacuum.

To avoid dangerous questions from station security, he decided to let Maris's corpse be found with the diplomat's IDs; but Maris saw through his plot and used those IDs to escape to the planet the Diplomat was about to investigate. Unfortunatley she landed in a hornet's nest of corrupt officials conspiring with a local tyrant. Surrounded by people who wanted her eliminated, the only person she could trust was Gabrel, a young officer who set off with her on a cross-planet trek to get evidence that would expose the tangled web of corruption.

Maris was strongly attracted to Gabrel and the feeling seemed to be mutual. But then, he thought she was a high-ranking government agent. What would happen when he found that she was only a petty criminal on the run

A very enjoyable SF romp!

Jan: "Deepsix", by Jack McDevitt. The second book in the "Academy" series, about a team of interstellar archaeologists exploring the remains of dead civilisations in the 23rd century.

Quote:

It should have been a straightforward exercise; but they were reckoning without mechanical failures, earthquakes and hostile indigenous species.

It’s 2225. Mankind has reached the outskirts of the universe, and discovered evidence of intelligent life on dozens of planets. Nothing still alive, but some amazing archaeological remains. On the distant planet Maleiva III, known colloquially as Deepsix (it’s about to be wiped out by a rogue gas giant, the Jerry Morgan) they’ve found traces of an ancient civilization. With two weeks to go before the gas giant destroys the planet, a team of crack archaeologists lands on the surface to record and salvage as much of this ancient civilzation as they can.

Suddenly, the team is stranded there with no means of getting off it. With the Jerry Morgan bearing down on them day by day, survival is going to require some ingenuity…

Absolutely superb. A real page-turner. One of those books where you want to carry on reading to find out what happens next, but you don't want the book to end. VERY highly recommended!

Jan: "Rogue Berserker", by Fred Saberhagan. The first book in the "Berserker" series, in which the human race is being attacked by sentient robots from an ancient war who have the goal of exterminating all life from the galaxy. Enjoyable.

Jan: "Come to Grief", by Dick Francis. The third of the four books in the "Sid Halley" series, but all completely standalone. Sid Halley, a former champion jockey turned private investigator in the world of horse-racing, suspects that his best friend may be responsible for a series of attacks in which horses are mutilated. He must be wrong, mustn't he?

Perhaps not the absolute best by Francis, but still very enjoyable indeed.

Jan: "Berserker Spy", by Fred Saberhagen. The first book in the Baen omnibus titled "Berserker Man". In this one, the Berserkers try to wipe out the current inhabitants of a planet by attacking key points in history in the distant past, thus changing history. Very good SF.

Jan: "Chindi", by Jack McDevitt. I enjoyed "Deepsix" so much that on with the third book in the "Academy" series. Perhaps not quite as good as "Deepsix", but still very, very good indeed. In this instalment in the series, "Hutch" leads an expedition of wealthy sponsors of the Academy on a mission to track down the source of a mysterious alien transmission originating from a neutron star. Again highly recommended!

23rd Jan: Finished "Berserker Planet", by Fred Saberhagen, which forms approximately the second quarter of the very large Baen omnibus called "Berserker Man", which I bought in October 2004. A story about a group of "modern" hunters on a planet which has fallen back to a mediaeval level of civilisation, who find more fearsome prey than they were anticipating! Not outstanding but an enjoyable enough read.

24th Jan: Finished "To the Hilt", by Dick Francis.

Quote:

Home for Alexander, an artist, is a small bothy on a remote mountain in Scotland. One day, his peace is shattered when he returns home to find some strangers waiting for him. After a scuffle, he is left for dead with only the wind and the words, "Where is it?" ringing in his ears.

An extremely enjoyable mystery/thriller. Highly recommended!

24th Jan: Finished "Berserker Man", by Fred Saberhagen; the title story of, and third book contained in, the Baen omnibus of the same name. This one didn't particularly grab me. OK, but nothing special.

27th Jan. Finished "Omega", By Jack McDevitt, the fourth book in the excellent "Academy" series, about a group of interstellar archaeologists exploring the remains left by dead extraterrestrial civilisations. In this book, the Academy has to try to save a civilisation, who are roughly at the technological level of the Roman Empire, from being wiped out by one of the mysterious "Omega Clouds" that we first met in the first book in the series, without violating the law which prohibits interference in other cultures. Absolutely excellent, like all the other books in the series so far. Highly recommended.

28th Jan. Finished "The Berserker Throne", by Fred Saberhagen. This is the final book in the extremely long Baen omnibus called "Berserker Man". I have to admit that I'm starting to find this series a little tedious. Nothing wrong with the plots, but I just don't like Saberhagen's writing style.

29th Jan. Finished "10lb. Penalty", by Dick Francis. This, like many of his later books, has only a fairly peripheral connection to horse racing, which appears in some way or other in all Francis' books. Description from Fantastic Fiction:

Quote:

Teenager Benedict Juliard has no other ambition than to ride in steeplechases as an amateur jockey. Having agreed not to do anything that could destroy his father's growing public service and political career, Ben finds himself targeted in an attack mounted by his father's enemies.

Absolutely excellent - one of his very best books, I think. Very highly recommended!

I'm revisiting challenges of the past two years where I fell short and adding to them the Great War because it's the centenary of the Armistice. This year, I'm not going to have targets for my categories, just see how it goes. I may revisit at mid-year and add something different. My overall goal is for 120 books, but that's more of a benchmark than a goal.

Once again my main goal is to reduce my overall TBR, with a special extra requirement to reduce my paper TBR by at least 7. For extra credit, I'd like to reduce (or not increase) the TBR in every individual month of the year. It's going to be much tougher now I've dropped my daily short story requirement.

5. That's Numberwang. Read books with consecutive numbers in the title, in order, at a rate of one per month. Started from 0 in July 2017. I'm currently hoping to get to 13 before I run out of options.Last number read: 13

6. David Gemmell Morningstar Award. Ongoing challenge to read everything ever shortlisted. I'm not sure what my 2018 target is yet, but I might as well carry on tracking. May: I think I'll try to at least tread water with 5 books.Current total: 5

The goal this year is similar to last year's, 120 books read (or abandoned), with a stretch goal of 160 books. This includes audio books. Individual short stories will be recorded, but not counted towards that goal until I've got several I can combine. Longer "short" works (~100 pages or so) will be counted as a full book, though if I have two of them back to back, I'll tend to count them as a single book.

Secondary goal is to update this list no less often than once a week. I managed that until the summer last year, but then that completely fell apart for a bit, before I got it back on track. It's really easy to lose track or get so far behind that one abandons the attempt. One trick is to update my "Reason for Editing" each time to show the last book(s) purchased and recorded. This helps me keep track even if it's been a few days since the last edit.

This year, a new tertiary goal -- to read at least 10 of the 12 books in the New Leaf Book Club and actively participate in the discussion.

I increased my goal to 30,000 pages this year, up from 27,000. I also wanted to read at least 8 books from the New Leaf Book Club. I did not miss any through September so met that goal as well. I still want to read the remaining 3 selections though. I also added the Bingo Reading Challenge from Goodreads and completed that on June 16.

3. Participate in the MR New Leaf Book Club and read and review at least four books in the year.

Books Read:

65 of 100 read

1. Afterlife by Marcus Sakey
2. The Wanted by Robert Crais
3. All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
4. Mythos by Stephen Fry
5. Passing by Nella Larsen
6. Buy A Bullet by Gregg Hurwitz
7. Crash by Keith Houghton
8. The Hunter by Tom Wood
9. The Walk by Lee Goldberg
10. The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
11. Writing a Page Turner by Mark Dawson
12. Musings from a Writer's Desk by Elizabeth Bailey
13. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future by Ashlee Vance
14. From the Heart of a Copy Editor-10 Most Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them by Shiels Glasbey
15. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
16. The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon
17. Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King
18. Night Moves by Jonathan Kellerman
19. Zombies, Run! The Way of All Flesh by Naomi Alderman
20. Bird Box by Josh Malerman
21. Funny Old World by Victor Lewis-Smith
22. Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman by J.B. Lynn
23. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson
24. Vertical Run by Joseph Garber
25. Hellbent by Gregg Hurwitz
26. Stein on Writing by Sol Stein
27. Making History by Stephen Fry
28. Sophomore Slump by Alan Lee
29. Preacher Book 2 by Garth Ennis
30. Preacher Book 3 by Garth Ennis
31. Preacher Book 4 by Garth Ennis
32. Preacher Book 5 by Garth Ennis
33. The Lost Continent: Travels In Small Town America by Bill Bryson
34. Preacher Book 6 by Garth Ennis
35. Preacher Special: Cassidy: Blood and Whiskey by Garth Ennis
36. Panic Room by Robert Goddard
37. Preacher Special: The Good Old Boys by Garth Ennis
38. The Last Teacher by Alan Lee
39. The Second Secret by Alan Lee
40. Preacher Special: One Man's War by Garth Ennis
41. White Is the Coldest Colour by John Nichol
42. The Bone Farm: A Jane Hawk Case File by Dean Koontz
43. The Grave Man by David Archer
44. Ultima by L.S. Hilton
45. Licensed to Thrill by Diane Capri
46. Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles by Kim Newman
47. No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor
48. Get Back Jack by Diane Capri
49. Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science by Bill Bryson
50. The P45 Diaries by Ben Hatch
51. Guess Who? by Chris McGeorge
52. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
53. Spider Girl by Peter Lovesey
54. The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman
55. Dead Boys by Gabrille Squailia
56. The Outsider by Stephen King
57. Crackanory by Various
58. Old Black Magic by Ace Atkins
59. Crossing by Andrew Fukuda
60. Six Poets: Hardy to Larkin by Various/Alan Bennett
61. Deathworld 2 by Harry Harrison
62. Brilliance by Marcus Sakey
63. Sex, Lies and Chocolate Cakes by Steven Morris
64. Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
65. The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz

Bingo Challenge:

180 of 300 points

New Leaf Book Club

4 of 4 Read and Reviewed - Complete!

1. Passing by Nella Larsen
2. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
3. Making History by Stephen Fry
4. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas